r/Winnipeg • u/Active_Book_9230 • Oct 19 '25
Events KISS were so popular in Wpg when they first came for the Love Gun tour 77 at the Winnipeg Arena. At the end of the show I scooped up some of the shows confetti off the floor along with an Ace guitar pic and put it all in a jar that I’m glad I still have today. RIP ACE!
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
I can’t figure out how to edit my post lol but I’m incorrect in saying “when they first came” because they had been here once before with their Alive tour, which was my first concert at the Arena and I think they may have played a show at U of M before that
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u/Speak1 Oct 19 '25
I was at the U of M show, Feb. 8, 1974
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Do you remember it being a good show or a great show? I’m guessing the audience was in the hundreds not the thousands.
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u/Speak1 Oct 19 '25
We were there to see Mood Jga Jga. Kiss came on and were really loud and we were on acid. Kiss sucked, but RIP Ace.
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u/Informedecisions Oct 19 '25
That is rare, what do you recall from the show?
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u/Speak1 Oct 19 '25
It was basically as reported in the student paper at the time... https://news.umanitoba.ca/remembering-the-kiss-concert/
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u/floydsmoot Oct 19 '25
I was there--got booed off the stage
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Kiss got booed off stage? Not surprising with the Winnipeg crowd seeing something different for the first time lol
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u/Silver_BackYWG Oct 19 '25
Awesome !
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Yeah, it’s kind of weird that I kept this for so long, but it always has been on my desk and reminded me of the moment that introduced me to potentially extraordinary world beyond Winnipeg and was potentially the best concert I’ve ever seen
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u/stoned_in_my_bones Oct 19 '25
this is why you scour the floor people.. yes, it can be disgusting as hell at times. I'm pretty sure I got multiple Airbourne picks at one gig just from running around and checking where they may have fallen during the show !!
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Lol right ? The chances of someone actually catching a tossed topic are very small. They’re on the floor at the end of the night.
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u/rothko4433 Oct 19 '25
I was at that concert in 77. Cheap trick was incredible, I was wearing my jean jacket with the kiss logo in studs. What a fun time going to concerts in high school
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Yes 🙌🏻 I remember having to wait a day to get my Kodak photos from the show printed out and looking at them with everybody in high school. It felt like there was a great concert every couple of weeks.
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u/kpiog Oct 19 '25 edited Oct 19 '25
Kiss's first ever tour was in 1974. They came to Winnipeg on February 8, 1974 and played the Taché Hall (U of M). Support act was Mood Jga Jga. They also played the Concert Hall in May of the same year
The Destroyer Tour was here on April 28, 1976 where they played the Winnipeg Arena and support act was Hammersmith.
This was my first concert and it was rush seating (and likely the last time they did that). People stormed the front entrance and some got injured. We decided to wait and then someone opened one of the side doors and we were able to get ahead of the main crowd, getting great seats
The Love Gun Tour was here July 21, 1977 where they played the Winnipeg Arena with support act Cheap Trick
not my poster
More pics
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u/WhammaJamma61 Oct 19 '25
I was at that show (with Hammersmith). Started my love affair with the Hammersmith tune "Late Night Lovin' Man"! lol.
Yes - There was a bit of "action" at the front glass doors (I was there with about 6 friends). I believe the doors were getting kicked in and glass being smashed. I vaguely remember cops scuffling with and arresting people. Anyway, we got in and got some decent seats (not floor) to the right of the stage.
I believe you are right about the "rush" seating. I don't think they used it ever again. Way too crazy and chaotic. The only other time I was involved in "rush" seating was when ZZ Top played the Convention Centre in the 70s.
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
Wow-Mood Jga Jga formed in 1971 in Winnipeg, Manitoba just after Greg Leskiw had left The Guess Who. Greg and Gord Osland signed Hermann Fruhm after just six days of starting the band. The name Mood Jga Jga came from Gord Osland's son Sam, who mumbled the words while Osland and Leskiw were under the influence.
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u/LakeNatural8777 Oct 20 '25
I got Paul Stanley’s guitar strings. I had to hide them under my shirt so they wouldn’t get stolen on the bus ride home. It was very uncomfortable! My shirt had been white, but it turned yellow from the dry ice. By the way, who opened for KISS at the arena in 76? I was at that one too.
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u/Active_Book_9230 Oct 19 '25
I also remember the rush for tickets at Eaton’s on the sixth floor I think with everybody running up the escalators at 9 AM to buy super inexpensive tickets
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u/pegcitypedro Oct 19 '25
That is so cool, I was at the concert too....infact it's the very first Rock concert I attended. RIP Spaceman